The Evolution (And Death) of the American Dream

you know back in the 1950s a single paycheck could buy you a house a car and a comfortable life for your family it was the American dream but fast forward to today and now that feels like a distant memory in the last 20 years the cost of living has risen by over 60% while wages have stagnated college tuitions have skyrocketed and owning your own home has become a little more than a fantasy the American dream was supposed to be about Freedom so why does it feel like more of a trap nowadays how did we even

get here well in this video we're going to uncover the rise and fall of the American dream how it started how it evolved and why escaping it now might be your last chance to truly live welcome to alux the place where future billionaires come to get inspired now before we dive in let's just clear one thing up this video isn't only about the us we're using American because it represents the life most people imagine when they think of the middle class it's a global idea but that's what we call it anyway back to how this

all started the American dream has always been Central to the identity of the United States after all it's the land of opportunity but the actual term wasn't coined until 1931 when writer and historian James trlo Adams used the phrase for the first time in his book The Epic of America Adams described the American dream as that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and Fuller for everyone with opportunity for each according to Ability or achievement at its core it's a promise a promise that a better life is there for you

as long as you're willing to work for it now this was a radical idea at the time that your success isn't determined by the family you were born into your background or your class the American dream was about fairness equality and opportunity and the chance to rise above it was about Hope and at the time that hope was desperately needed the Great Depression hit the US like a wrecking ball one in every four people were out of a job wages sank to record lows breadlines stretched for blocks and millions of families lost everything their homes

their savings their dignity but out of this desperation the idea of the American dream began to take shape for those in the ression it wasn't about luxury or wealth it was about reclaiming the basic building blocks of a decent life which meant five things first and foremost the American dream was about family when everything else was uncertain that image of a strong supportive family unit became an anchor second it meant stability finding a steady job during the Depression was like winning the lottery but the dream promised that if you worked hard you could have a

reliable job that let you support your family then there was home ownership owning a home meant security a place where your family could grow and Thrive fourth was the belief in education being the gateway to a better life parents believe that sending their kids to college was the key to Breaking the cycle of poverty and finally the most groundbreaking part upward Mobility the American dream wasn't just about surviving it was about the belief that a farmer could become a businessman a factory worker could send their kids to college that no matter where you started you

could climb higher these ideas were revolutionary at the time that tomorrow could be better than today that things get better if you try that you could choose your destiny and the craziest thing is that for all its modesty the American dream worked as the world began recovering from the Great Depression this honest simple vision of stability laid the groundwork for one of the most prosperous times in history so when World War II came to an end soldiers returned home to a thriving job market and the American dream entered its golden age for the first time

in history the idea of being middle class was well within reach for millions of people back then the average family earned about $5,000 a year about 55,000 today and that was enough to support a growing family and even have a couple of cars in the driveway regular Factory workers could buy homes and save for retirement and since higher education was affordable they could even send their kids to college people were actually moving up in the world but it wasn't just about material success this was the era of family backyard barbecues and your suburban home surrounded

by a white picket fence families sat down for dinner together neighbors knew each other by name and there was a sense of optimism in the air a belief that hard work and determination could lead to Better Lives not just for yourself but for your kids too simply put the economy was booming people were getting along and it felt like the American dream was finally working but as the decades went on things began to change and not necessarily for the better because as society's values began to shift stability was no longer enough people started chasing status

and the dream became more about appearances than Reality by the 1980s the American American Dream looked totally different on the surface things had never seemed better cars got flashier more people than ever were going to college and the modest Suburban home with a white picket fence was replaced by the mcmansion an oversized showy symbol of success for the first time even things like vacations and luxury goods seemed Within Reach for ordinary people but beneath the surface all of this New Wealth was an illusion Banks began to offer loans like never before making it possible for

people to buy things now and pay for them later everyone was keeping up with the Joneses per se but those vacations were more likely paid for on a credit card those college degrees came with a hefty student loan and those mcmansions came with a proportional mortgage so much money was going around that prices were beginning to rise but wages were not keeping up so it became the norm for both a husband and wife to go to work not to get ahead just to pay the bills now it wasn't all bad here this was a time

of incredible Innovation but the American dream had become about earning more buying more and looking the part even if it meant living on borrowed money and lots of it it was no longer just about building a secure life it was about status and meanwhile no one realized just how fragile the system had become because beneath the surface of what seemed like a thriving economy the system was about to collapse and in 2008 it did to put it simply the United States was drunk on debt Banks had been loaning out copious amounts of money to people

who really could not afford to pay them back they were gambling on everything just working out somehow but it didn't and eventually the whole system broke down not just in the US it was around the world when the bubble burst the stock market crashed Banks failed and trillions of dollars of retirement savings evaporated overnight the dream of homeownership once a Cornerstone of middleclass security became a nightmare for families who found themselves drowning in debt college graduates faced one of the worst job markets in decades making it nearly impossible to repay their student loans millions of

people were left wondering how the dream they'd worked so hard to achieve could break down so quickly this wasn't just another economic downturn though it was a full-blown collapse of trust in the American dream and so the government faced a choice which would shape the entire world we live in today they could either let the economy correct itself naturally or step in to mitigate the damage naturally they chose to step in and that meant printing trillions of dollars now obviously it's a little more complicated than that the government implement did a strategy known as quantitive

easing but for the sake of Simplicity just think of it as printing money with extra steps this money was intended to keep Banks and businesses afloat save jobs and prevent a complete economic collapse and in the short term it worked the economy stabilized stocks rebounded and people went back to work but printing that much money it comes with a cost you see when you flood the economy with trillions of dollars all of a sudden they don't just disappear it causes inflation think of it like adding water to soup the more water you add the less

tasty that soup is so in the same way more new dollars going around means dollars themselves become less valuable so prices across the whole economy have to go up to make up for it and here's the kicker for the wealthy people who own assets like stocks and real estate this was fantastic news the dollar value of everything they own increased but for the middle and lower classes this effect was devastating stuff like groceries rent cars Health Care basically everything got a lot more expensive the cost of living soared and meanwhile the average wage stayed pretty

much the same just think about that for a moment life was getting more expensive and while the rich were getting richer everybody else was barely managing to survive quantitive easing widened the gap between the wealthy and everybody else and it wasn't temporary every time more money was injected into the system the cost of everything went up and that Gap grew even wider so where does that leave the American dream today well the truth is we're still living with the consequences of the government's decisions in 2008 quantitive easing became the new normal every time the economy

hit a rough patch more trillions were injected into the system and when the pandemic came the money printer went into overdrive today we're feeling the full weight of that American Dream start to fade away at the start of this video we outlined the five core pillars of the American dream but look around how many of them still stand owning a home was once the Cornerstone of the American dream but home prices and even rents have skyrocketed in the last two decades that basically rules out the possibility of being able to sustain a family and education

is so expensive that for most people it's unattainable without burying themselves in student loans yes your income can technically be stable but what does that even mean when everything from housing to Health Care from education to groceries has become more expensive in the last 20 years the average cost of living in the US has risen by around 60% but the average wage for the bottom 90% % of earners meaning the middle class has only increased by about 15% basically that 90% is swimming against the current and this brings us to the real heart of the

issue upward Mobility for millions of people the promise of the American dream that simple yet honest hard work gives you the chance to rise above the circumstances just isn't holding up you can work long hours play by all the rules and still struggle to make ends meet meanwhile the top 1% of Americans now control nearly 40% of the country's wealth meaning the middle class the backbone of the American dream is disappearing and this isn't just an American problem it's Global okay countries everywhere are grappling with Rising wealth inequality stagnant wages and a gap between the

halves and the have knots that only gets wider every year so we're left with a question what's coming next well this is the tough reality we face today the American dream is in Decline it's been in Decline for a long time the middle class the foundation of that dream is shrinking and if you follow that Trend everyone will eventually find themselves at one of the two fringes either very rich or very poor in the past the American dream promised a comfortable life in the middle class if you simply got a good job and worked hard

at it but today being middle class isn't enough because the middle class itself is disappearing and if you stay stagnant the current will pull you down but you know we don't want to end this video without offering some kind of optimism okay because look the American dream fading away doesn't mean that you are powerless it just means the way forward looks different than it used to here at alux we're not the type to complain okay that would be a waste of time and we believe everyone has the power to build a prosperous life to do

that in this economy you have to face a tough but empowering reality the American dream from the 1950s might be in a dumpster somewhere but moving up in the world is still possible it just it doesn't happen automatically anymore success now requires taking control of your future for anyone who wants to live securely and abundantly in today's world it should be a priority to escape the middle class while you still can now this doesn't necessarily mean chasing extreme luxuries or becoming a billionaire that's not for everybody but it does mean taking responsibility for your own

financial future instead of leaving it up to the system and learning how to thrive in a world that's more volatile than ever and that little bit right there is really really important in fact it's never been more important you need a strategy that works for the world we live in in right now a world where things like inflation and income inequality are a part of everyday life and this is exactly why we built the alux app it's designed for people like you people who see the writing on the wall and want to take control of

their future instead of just hoping things work out now look our goal here isn't to make it sound like the sky is falling so we can sell you some kind of get-rich quick scheme okay not our deal our app covers everything right from the basics of learning financial literacy so stuff like a budget and how to stick to it how to save and invest but also how to grow and secure your wealth once you've made it at the end of the day we want you to build a solid foundation so you can feel confident and

secure no matter what happens in the economy when you sign up to the app you tell us where you are right now where you want to go and we'll build you a personalized growth path and if it's your thing there's even guides and expert courses on more advanced topics like how to start and scale a business whatever your goal goals are with the alux app you'll learn what you need to learn when you need to learn it and you can even track the progress you've made every step along the way hundreds of thousands of successful

entrepreneurs and professionals have made the alux app a pillar of their daily routine because it gets results okay we've got all the tools you need to build a life you've always dreamed of so if you're serious about that come on in and join us when you download the app and scan the QR code on screen you'll get an exclusive 25% discount on your yearly plan and get instant access to everything inside at the end of the day the choice is yours alexer you can wait and hope that things get better or you can take that

first step toward a better life if there's one thing you will never regret investing in it is your education and with that alexir we'll see you back here next time until then take care my friend